There are known in the prior art certain vending machines which fry a food product upon demand by a consumer and dispense that product to the consumer once the frying has been completed. Typically, a consumer will insert his money and select a product. The machine will then cook the product, and serve it to the consumer.
Many vending machines which are currently in use fry food products in much the same way as a commercial frying machine does in a restaurant. Restaurant fryers employ heating coils which are immersed in cooking oil. The cooking oil is continuously kept at a high temperature while remaining exposed to the air. The food product is placed in a basket which is then lowered into the oil for cooking. After frying the food for a specified length of time, the food is removed and drained of any excess oil.
In restaurants which serve fried foods, the oil is changed on a regular basis. This changing is necessary because after numerous cooking cycles, the oil alters the flavor of the food product as a result of its being cooked. In addition, after being exposed to the air and kept at a high temperature, the oil breaks down chemically and ceases to perform its frying task properly. The vending machines which serve fried foods are similarly constrained by the longevity of the oil. This requires that maintenance be frequently performed on the machines. For example, prior art vending machines require that the oil in these vendor/fryers be changed on a weekly basis to circumvent these problems.
Further, the past dispensing method for machines of this type have had several drawbacks. Sometimes, these machines dispense and fry a food "half product." The term "half product" refers to a pre-cooked, pasta-like food product which, when subsequently fried in oil, develops a cracker-like consistency. The dispensers in previous machines have relied on an auger-type mechanism wherein the auger turns to dispense an adequate amount of the product for frying. The half product comes in various forms and shapes, and frequently the auger mechanism breaks and separates many of the half product pieces during the dispensing process. A consumer generally desires to have a fully formed and unbroken product.
As will be seen, the instant invention solves both the dispensing and the cooking oil problems characteristic of the prior art. The dispensing apparatus and method of the invented vending machine releases the product in such a way that the product is not damaged in any way prior to cooking. Also, the cooking oil is stored in the machine such that exposure to the air is minimized, resulting in little decomposition of the oil between machine service calls. The unique cooking operation described here wherein the oil is forced from the heating chamber into the cooking pan utilizing air pressure makes this possible. As a result the oil does not need to be changed for long periods of time.
Moreover, the cooking temperature in the oil chamber of this invention is precisely controlled so that the product can be cooked almost instantaneously during high demand periods. The temperature is correspondingly reduced during low demand periods which further increases oil longevity.
The foregoing advances in the state of the art embodied in this invention has extended oil life from the one week period typical of the prior art to a two-to-four week period. This increased oil longevity means that the machine does not need to be maintained as often. The instant invention is a significant advancement of the prior art because lower maintenance translates into increased profits to the vendor.